Virginia junior golfer Derek Bard has missed the cut at the Masters after shooting a 5-over 77 in Friday’s second round. Counting his score of 4-over 76, Bard finished his two rounds of play at 9-over par total, three shots behind the cut of 6-over par.
Bard’s second round performance was very reminiscent of his first round, in which the back nine took a serious toll on the amateur golfer. Starting the round off with a bogey on the first hole, Bard made the turn at 2-over. After recording a birdie on the par-four tenth, Derek bogeyed holes 12 and 15, double bogeyed 16 and bogeyed 17 before closing out the round with a birdie on 18.
Bard wasn’t alone in his second round struggles. Friday was an extremely tough day on the course for the entire field, with only three of the 89 golfers–Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, and Troy Merritt–shooting under par for the day, all three of which only mustered a 1-under 71. Jordan Spieth (-4), who came into Friday with the lead, remained atop the leaderboard after shooting a 2-over 74 for the day. Spieth has now finished in the lead in six straight rounds at the Masters dating back to last year, when the twenty-one year old won the tournament in wire-to-wire fashion. Spieth will be paired with Rory McIlroy in tomorrow’s round, who he leads by a single stroke.
Statistically, Bard finished behind the field in most categories for the second straight day. He hit fewer than 44 percent of the greens in regulation and hit 50 percent of fairways off the tee. Though he did improve on his putting from Thursday, averaging 1.5 putts per green in the second round compared to the 1.67 in the first round, his improvements were not enough to propel him into weekend play.
Following his return to Charlottesville, Bard will rejoin the Virginia team, who next play April 16-17 at the Wolfpack Invitational in Raleigh. He will also have another shot in a Major tournament this summer when he participates in the U.S Open at Oakmont Country Club, a tournament he also qualified for with his finish at the U.S Amateur.
